Ding dong!

Brandon’s eyes flutter open against his pillow. He lets out a deep breath as he rolls over to his back. He groans and rubs his eyes, gradually becoming more awake. He blinks his eyes, realizing that it is awfully dark outside.

Knitting his eyebrows in confusion, his rolls over to his right side toward his smartphone, which is laying next to him on the floor. He presses the home button, catching sight of the time: 5:34 a.m.

Five-thirty? Brandon exclaims mentally. I got some more time to sleep in--

Ding dong!

Brandon sits up drowsily. “Who the heck is at the door at this time?” he mutters, rubbing his eyes once more.

Ding dong! Ding dong! Ding dong!

He gets on his hands and knees and slowly crawls over to the exit of the room. He slips onto his ladder, climbs down to the bedroom’s floor, and pads out of the room and into the hallway.

There, he spots Joseph marching down the hallway, toward him.

Brandon steps up to him. “Do you know who’s knocking?”

Joseph continues his furious stride; Brandon joins in a more cool mood. “Someone who wants to be on my death list,” he grumbles.

They halt in front of the front door in the foyer. Brandon reaches for the knob and pulls the black door open.

On the other side are three men: The man on the left has blond hair hanging down with a straight length from his head and slanted, blue eyes. The man in the middle has short, dark brown hair with brown eyes and thick facial hair. The man on the right has dark brown hair with bangs and its ends sticking out from his neck along with blue eyes and a sweet smile.

The two residents immediately recognize who they are: Hampus Lindholm, Ryan Kesler, and Rickard Rakell of the Anaheim Ducks.

“MONTY! CRAMBERRY!!!” Hampus and Rickard shout in their cute, high-pitched Swedish accents. They hop over to the two in unison and hug them tightly.

“How have you been?” Rickard asks.

“Why are you in San Diego?” Hampus questions.

“We haven’t seen you in forever!”

“We miss you very much!”

“Don’t you have a game today?”

As the two Swedish Ducks are shooting their questions, Brandon gives Joseph a perplexed expression while Joseph shoots him an infuriated look.

“Guys, give them some breathing room, geez!” Ryan commands them sternly.

“It’s about time,” Joseph mumbles.

The Swedish friends pull apart from them, giggling amongst themselves.

Brandon gazes at the three in bewilderment. “Wha-what are you guys doing here at five-thirty in the morning?”

Ryan stuffs his hands in his jeans’ pockets. “Ah, they wanted to check to see how you guys are doing—”

“Yeah, because we got this!” Rickard cuts in, whipping out a familiar postcard and waving it in their faces.

Brandon’s eyebrows shoot up at the sight of the postcard from San Diego. “Wow, that’s some mighty fast service Joe got there, eh?”

“Yeah, it was really nice to send this to us!” Hampus exclaims with a sweet, closed smile.

Joseph tilts his head. “You’re welcome.”

“But it’s funny,” Rickard starts, examining the postcard, “because we’re not in Anaheim--”

“Mm-mm,” Hampus adds in, nodding his head.

“--we’re in San Diego!” Rickard finishes off.

“Yeah!” his friend agrees.

“Yeah, you guys are in San Diego…” Brandon extends his hands toward them. “How else could you guys be here?”

Ryan chuckles as he crosses his arms, darting his eyes at his teammates. “What these two are trying to say here is that you guys addressed this to Anaheim, but…” He lands his eyes on the two. “...we don’t play in Anaheim.”

Brandon and Joseph exchange confused expressions.

Brandon faces them. “But you guys are in the Ducks…which are in Anaheim—”

“Noooo! We play for the Gulls!” Rickard exclaims loudly.

“Yeah, Gulls!” Hampus throws his hands from his sides. “San Diego!”

Joseph folds his arms across his chest. “Nice joke, guys, but you’re not our teammates.” He then darts his eyes at Rickard. “Except for you last season.”

“No, we’re not your teammates this season!” Rickard objects.

“How can we be if you’re in the Ducks?” Hampus points out.

Sudden silence falls over the porch of the Monarossabergie House.

Brandon, who is gawking, places his hands on his chest. “We’re in the…”

“…Ducks?” Joseph finishes off.

Ryan eyes them incredulously. “Yeah…why do you guys seem so surprised?”

“Because…” Brandon eyes his roommate.

Ryan points to himself and the two Swedes. “We’ve always been on the Gulls--” He reverts his index finger to the two. “--you guys have been Ducks--” He throws his hands out from his sides. “--that’s how it’s always been.”

Joseph frowns with knitted eyebrows. “So where do you guys live?”

“Here!” Rickard jumps into the air with his hands outstretched. “That’s why we’re here!”

“Yeah!” Hampus exclaims.

“No, you—”

“Wait, but where do we live in we don’t live here?” Brandon cuts into Joseph’s sentence, waving his hands in front of them.

“Anaheim, of course!” Rickard answers excitedly.

“Yeah!” his friend joins in.

Ryan gazes at the two with concern. “Are you guys okay? How can you not remember this?”

Brandon holds a finger up. “One moment.” He then steps back with his roommate and closes the door in front of them.

“What is going on?” Joseph hisses to him.

“It seems like they’re really convinced that they’re in the Gulls and we’re in the Ducks,” Brandon points out with knitted eyebrows.

Nick lumbers into view from the living room, wearing a robe and slippers with a coffee mug in his hand. “We’re in the Ducks?”

Joseph glares at him. “According to Ryan and Timon and Pumbaa.”

Nick raises his eyebrows with weary eyes. “Huh, okay. I should start packing up then.” He then shuffles past the two toward his bedroom.

Joseph huffs then turns his attention back to Brandon. “Someone’s gotta tell 'em that they’re in the Ducks.”

Brandon nods toward him. “You can.”

He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, and add in if this is some cruel joke to rub in our faces that we’re not in the NHL, I’ll make them wish they never thought of it.” He then throws the door open once again.

The three hockey players are still standing at the foot of the door, quickly ending a conversation.

Ryan peers ahead at Joseph, spotting his menacing expression along with his striking eyes. “Joey, why that look?” he asks with a concerned frown.

“You guys are rubbing in our faces that we’re not in the NHL.”

“No, we’re not!” Rickard shouts, shaking his head.

“Nooooooo!” Hampus adds on.

“Shut it,” Joseph snaps at the two. He then turns to Ryan, jabbing a thumb at his chest. “We’re in the Gulls, as much as we wish we were in the Ducks.” He points to him. “And you’re in the Ducks.”

Ryan then shakes his dipped head while waving his hands above his head with a small smile. “Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe, you got it all mixed up--” He straightens up and points to himself. “We’re in the Gulls--” He reverts his pointing to him. “--you’re in the Ducks. Come on, is it too early in the morning to get your facts straight?” he finishes off, poking playfully at his head to the beat of his last statement.

Joseph steps back with a fuming expression.

“So where are your jerseys?” Brandon asks, putting their statements to the test.

Rickard’s eyes light up. “Inside!” He then skips inside, squeezing past the two. Hampus follows right after him.

The two roommates turn to two Swedes’ direction, spotting them skipping down the hallway; they follow them into Brandon and Nick’s bedroom, where they halt next to the closet, which is by the door.

Rickard and Hampus both reach their hands into the closet and pull them back out, each holding a white Gulls’ jersey on its hanger.

“Ta-da!!!” they exclaim in unison.

Brandon and Joseph spot their last names patched on the back of the jersey. Their jaws immediately drop.

Ryan then steps into the room. In his grasp is his Gulls’ jersey with his surname embroidered on it.

The two roommates give it the same reaction.

“Are the facts clear now?” Ryan asks with a cocky expression.

Joseph shakes his head, shaking off the shock and bring back the seriousness. “I’ll show you mine.” He then storms out of the room.

Brandon peers at the jerseys the Swedes plucked out from his bedroom, then gazes around the room itself. “This is my room…”

“Noooo, this is our room!” Rickard exclaims.

“Yeah!” Hampus points up to the hole-in-the-wall. “Ricky sleeps up there and I sleep here!” He reverts his index finger to Nick’s bed which is across the closet.

Brandon gawks at them. He then sadly peers out at the room. “Nick sleeps there and I sleep up there…”

Then Joseph strides back into the room and halts in front of the doorway. The others turn to him.

In his hand is a black Ducks’ jersey with his own last name stitched on the back. The owner himself is staring at it in shock mixed with awe.

Ryan’s face lights up. “Oh, there’s your jersey! Told ya you’ll find it!” He gives him a smile.

“Where’s-where’s mine?” Brandon asks the alternate captain of the Ducks--or Gulls.

Ryan turns to him. “At your house in Anaheim— Joe left his here from last time.”

“From what last time?” Joseph growls from behind him.

Ryan whirls to face him. “Last time you visited us down here, now cool it.” He lowers his hand at him, signalling him to “cool it.”

Nick then appears behind Joseph with his rolling suitcases by his side.

“Let’s go to Anaheim,” he announces sluggishly. “We have a game tonight at seven o’clock against the Bruins.” He strolls off into the hallway.

Brandon turns to his roommate. “Should we?”

“Let’s get out of here.” Joseph turns around and begins to exit the room. “Wake up from this nightmare.” He smacks his head as he disappears into the hallway.

Brandon follows him into the hallway. “It feels real,” he tells him.

Joseph halts his smacking. “It’s real.”


Almost an hour later, the three residents of the Monarossabergie House are in Brandon’s Jeep with Brandon the driver, Joseph on the passenger’s seat, and Nick in the back.

It is the early morning with the sun still rising in the sky, which has a purple and pink tint to it.
The Jeep is rolling down the small street of the heart of Del Mar, passing by the still and silent small shops that line the roads.

Brandon peers at the rear view mirror to catch sight of his friend. “Um, Nicky, do you know what’s going on?”

Nick peers up at him. “Yeah: we’re going to Anaheim.” He flashes him a sweet smile.

“But do you know why?” Brandon knits his eyebrows.

“Because we’re part of the Ducks,” Nick answers normally.

“But what about the Ducks?” He switches his eyes on the road. “Do you know where they’re going to?”

“They’re gonna stay here in San Diego,” Nick tells him. “Where else would they go?”

The Jeep comes to a stop at an intersection at the command of a red light. To their right is another car with three familiar faces in them.

“Ya hear what happened?!” Bryan shouts from the car’s backseat to the three in the Jeep. “We got replaced by the Ducks!” He then throws his head back and crackles: “AH-HA ANAHEIM, HERE WE COME!”

Brandon peers down at the rider of the small car. “You guys got kicked out too?”

Joe pokes his head out from the driver’s window. “Yuper-doos! I’m so happy that the Ducks get a chance to play in the AHL! We’re all sharing here!” He flashes them a big smile.

“I’m just happy we finally get to play on an NHL hockey team!” Bryan exclaims. “Woooo baby!”

The light then turns green.

Joe then begins moving the car forward. “Well, we’ll see you up in Anaheim!” The car begins picking up speed. “Drive safely! Don’t drink and drive!” Then he speeds down the road.

Brandon crosses the intersection and resumes driving down the street.

“We’re playing in the NHL,” Joseph states in a daze. “We are playing in the NHL.”

“Yeah, Ducks are in the NHL,” Nick tells him matter-of-factly. “And we’re the Ducks.”

Joseph then smirks at a realization. “I think I like this joke after all…” He leans against his seat and folds his arms behind his head.

Notes

E.12 "The Ducks Are In Town"
Part 2/6
Episode 12/20